Better safety boosts insurance profits
Improved road safety was partly responsible for the insurance industry’s first profit from motor cover since 1998, companies said tonight.
The Irish Insurance Federation reported that last year’s surplus of €183m compared to losses of up to €140m between 1999 and 2001.
The federation said the figures added up to good news for both insurers and policy holders, and they had been helped by better road safety as well as “some moderation” in compensation awards during the year.
The federation confirmed that last year Irish drivers spent €1.9bn on motor cover premiums, and insisted that the profits are not excessive.
It estimated that premiums, which had increased by around 40% since 1998, had gone down by 6% in the past 12 months.
Chief executive Michael Kemp said premium reductions would be a lot greater if the cost of claims made against the companies were reduced.
But he also pointed out that only 17 of the 67 recommendations made in a Motor Insurance Advisory Board report last year had been implemented.
Mr Kemp said those changes – which included the introduction of random breath-testing a dedicated police traffic corps – had to be a priority for the Government.
